Dyeing apparatus



Jan. 3, 1967 M. KARL 5,3

DYEING APPARATUS Filed July l7, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS MART! NKARL ATTOR N EY Jan. 3, 1967 M. KARL 3,295,340

DYEING APPARATUS Filed July l7, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q I A F l G. 4

INVENTORS MARTIN KARL ATTORNEY United States Patent My present inventionrelates to the dyeing of textile materials such as yarns and raw stock,with particular reference to a novel apparatus for dyeing suchmaterials.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a dyeingapparatus for dyeing quantities of yarn and raw stock without feltingand harshening.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus fordyeing yarn without the use of high pressure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatusfor dyeing yarn and raw stock which is simple in construction and easyand economical to maintain, manufacture and assemble.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view myinvention consists of a novel apparatus more fully disclosed in thedetails description following in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of one of the dyeing tanks.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the work holding baskets.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cover strip.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bafile or divider.

In dyeing yarn it has been customary to place the yarn in a tank andcirculate the dye water under high pressure and heat. This process tendsto give a harsh and burned feeling to woolen or worsted yarns and rawstock.

The present invention is designed to overcome the above defects byproviding an apparatus which dyes yarn and raw stock without highpressure. One of the features of the present invention is the passage oflarge quantities of the dye liquid through the material in a steady flowwithout high pressure using a circulating pump of the type shown inPatent No. 3,05 0,011 entitled Rotary Pump, issued August 21, 1962. Theapparatus of the present invention also permits the reuse of thesoftened dye liquid which produces a very fine and even dyeing of theyarn.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a pair of dyeingtanks and 11 and a reserve tank 12 having a capacity equal to thecombined tanks when loaded. The tanks 10 and 11 are connected adjacenttheir upper edges by an overflow or circulating section 13 which isapproximately six inches in height and five inches in width. The tanks10 and 11 are open at the top. At the bottom, the various tanks areconnected by a series of pipes and valves for controlling the properflow of liquid. A vertical pipe 14 extends from the bottom of the tank10 and a similar pipe 15 extends from the bottom of the tank 11. Thepipes 14 and 15 are connected by a horizontal pipe 16 controlled by ahand-operated regulating valve 17. This controls the free flow betweenthe tanks 10 and 11. The pipe 15 is provided with a hand controlledvalve 18 just below its connection with the pipe 16. The circulatingsystem includes the circulating pump 19 which is of the type shown inthe patent above referred to. One side or" the pump 19 is connectedthrough a pipe 20 to the bottom end of the pipe 14 extending from thetank 10. The other side of the pump 19 is connected through a pipe 21 tothe reserve tank 12. A hand controlled valve 22 is positioned adjacentthe tank 12 for controlling the flow of liquid to and from the tank. Thepipe 21 is also connected at 23 to the valve 18 which 3.2%,340- PatentedJan. 3, 1967 controls the flow to the tank 11. Intermediate the pump 19and the connection 23 is a drainage connection 24 controlled by a manualvalve 25. In addition a steam pipe 26, connected to a source of steampressure, enters the tank 10 adjacent the bottom end, is looped in asemi circle around the inside wall of the tank, exits at 27 and circlesthe inside of the tank 11, then returns at 28 back into the tank 10around the inside wall and out at 29. The lines 26 and 29 are controlledby hand valves 30. The indirect steam lines above described are used forheating the liquid in the tanks 10 and 11.

The tanks 1% and 11 are identical in construction and are illustrated inmore detail in FIGS. 2 to 5 inclusive. The size and capacity of thetanks may be varied by supplying tanks of larger dimensions. It isestimated that a 24 inch diameter tank, 32 inches in height will holdapproximately l00 pounds of yarn.

The interior construction of each tank and 11 is shown in FIG. 2. Thebody of the tank comprises a cylindrical member 31 having a bottom 32and an open top. The tank can be made of any suitable material includingaluminum to save weight and cost. Positioned on the bottom 32 is abaffle 33, shown in detail in FIG. 5. The baffle or divider 33 ismounted over the central inlet of the pipe 14 in tank 10 and the pipe 15in tank 11. It comprises a concave member 34 having spaced legs 35 whichsupport the baffle in spaced relation to the inlet. On top, in thecenter of the concave portion 34 is a collar 36. In assembly asupporting rod 37 is set into the collar 36. The rod 37 is of suchlength that its top end will be about 5 inches lower than the top edgeof the tank. A ring 38 is mounted on the bottom of tank 32. The ring 33is approximately five inches in height and forms the rest for thebaskets. The top edge is provided with a heavy lip 39 forming a thickportion. I now provide a plurality of work holding baskets 40, one ofwhich is shown in FIG. 3. Each basket comprises an annular ring with avertical wall of approximately five inches. The top is open and the topedge of the wall is provided with a heavy lip 41 which may be providedwith three openings 42 for the insertion of lift hooks. The bottom ofeach basket is provided with a plurality of openings 43 and a largecentral opening 44. There are four 5" baskets which are placed one overthe other so that the rod 37 extends through the central openings 44with the bottom edge of each basket resting on the enlarged lip 41 ofthe basket below it. The top basket is covered by a perforated plate 45and the entire assembly is covered by the cross member 46 shown in FIG.4. The member 46 has four arms and the central opening 4-7 which slidesover the rod 37. The entire assembly is now held down by a collar 48having top and bottom flanges 49 which is slipped over the upper end ofthe rod 37. I now provide a lock in the form of a strip of metal 50which extends as a diameter across the top of each tank and beyond theedges thereof. The central portion of the strip 50 bears downwardly ontop of the flange 49 of the collar 48 to hold the baskets in place. Thestrip 50 is locked in position by means of a pair of pivoted bolts 51mounted at diametrically opposite sides at the upper portion of thetank. The bolts 51 are pivoted into slots 52 at each end of the coverstrip 50 and held in place by wing nuts 53.

The above construction permits the dyeing of two tank fulls of yarnsimultaneously and the method of operation, with reference to the aboveconstruction is as follows:

(1) The virgin yarn or raw stock is laid into both tanks 10 and 11. Thisis accomplished by loading each basket 40 and lowering it into the tanksinto the position shown in FIG. 2. At this time the machine is ready forthe dyeing process.

(2) Dyestuff is boiled and dissolved in tank 12 with needed amount ofwater. With this completed, more cold water is added to cool dye liquid,and acid and other chemicals are added. At this point in the operationthe drainage valve 25 has been shut. The valve 22 leading to the reservetank 12 has been shut.

(3) The valve 13 leading to tank 11 is shut and valve 22 is opened. Thepump 19 is started and thus starts dye liquid flowing into tanks 10 and11. When dye liquid is all in the machine valve 22 is shut and valve 1'7is opened for regulation of both tanks. The level of the water isbrought to about two or three inches deep in the overflow portion 13.

(4) The valve 17 is shut and the valve 18 is now opened. Communicationbetween the tanks 10 and 11 is now through the pump 19. This pump isdesigned to provide a maximum volume flow without surging and withouthigh pressure. Note that the baflie plates 34 serve to divide the flowof water over the diameter of each tank. The water will surge upwardlythrough one tank, pass across the overflow portion 13 and down throughthe other tank. This circulation is reversed every three to five minutesby reversing the pump 19. The dyeing operation takes approximately twohours during which time the pump has circulated twelve to twenty timesin each direction at three to five minute intervals an hour.

When the pump is started up in step 4 the steam valve 30 is opened toheat the circulating dye liquid. The circulation of the steam is timedto slowly bring the temperature of the liquid to about 190195 F. inapproximately forty-five minutes and held at this temperature for theduration of the process.

(6) At the end of dyeing time, the steam is shut off. The liquid whichis usually clear after the process can be pumped back into tank 12 forfurther use if desired. If this is not wanted, cold water will be addedand drain valve 25 partly opened. The dyed lot is slowly cooled offuntil cold and clean.

This completes the dyeing operation in the tanks and 11. The wing nuts53 are removed and each basket is lifted out with the dyed yarn for thenext step. New yarn is now positioned in the tank as in step 1. It willbe found that some of the water has been evaporated and therefore thetanks are not completely full. Additional water is now added to fill thetanks to the proper levels. The entire cycle now proceeds as before. Byreusing the original dye water much better results are obtained. I havefound that the continuous use of the same water, if possible, aids inthe even distribution of the dye and better handling of the material.

The above described apparatus thus permits the rapid and efiicientdyeing of two tank fulls of yarn simultaneously in a single cycle. Thedye water is gently circulated in volume in both directions providingfor uniform even dyeing. The apparatus is simple in construction andeasy and economical to assemble and operate. Other advantages of thepresent invention will be readily apparent to a person skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for dyeing textile materials comprising a pair of dyeingtanks, a reserve tank, an overflow circulating channel connecting saiddyeing tanks adjacent the upper ends thereof, a conduit connecting thebottoms of said dyeing tanks, a second conduitconnecting the bottoms ofsaid dyeing and reserve tanks, a reversible high volume low pressurecirculating pump in said second conduit, a steam line extending throughthe lower ends of said dyeing tanks, and manually operable valves insaid conduits for controlling the flow of dye liquid between said tanksand said pump, each of said dyeing tanks having a baflle mounted on thebottom over said conduit inlet, a post extending vertically from saidbaflle, and a plurality of stacked work holding baskets mounted aroundsaid post.

2. An apparatus for dyeing textile materials comprising a pair of dyeingtanks, a reserve tank, an overflow circulating channel connecting saiddyeing tanks adjacent the upper ends thereof, a conduit connecting thebottoms of said dyeing tanks, a second conduit connecting the bottoms ofsaid dyeing and reserve tanks, a reversible high volume low pressurecirculating pump in said second conduit, a steam line extending throughthe lower ends of said dyeing tanks, and manually operable valves insaid conduits for controlling the flow of dye between said tanks andsaid pump, each of said dyeing tanks having a battle mounted on thebottom over said conduit inlet, a post extending vertically from saidbafl le, and a plurality of stacked work holding baskets mounted aroundsaid post and means for locking said baskets in said tanks.

3. An apparatus for dyeing textile materials comprising a pair of dyeingtanks, a reserve tank, an overflow circulating channel connecting saiddyeing tanks adjacent the upper ends thereof, a conduit connecting thebottoms of said dyeing tanks, a second conduit connecting the bottoms ofsaid dyeing and reserve tanks, a reversible high volume low pressurecirculating pump in said second conduit, a steam line extending throughthe lower ends of said dyeing tanks, and manually operable valves insaid conduits for controlling the flow of dye liquid between said tanksand said pump, each of said dyeing tanks having a battle mounted on thebottom over said conduit inlet, a post extending vertically from saidbattle, and a plurality of stacked work holding baskets mounted aroundsaid post, each of said baskets comprising an annular wall portion and aperforated bottom, the top edge of said wall portion having a heavy beadfor supporting the next vertical basket.

4. An apparatus for dyeing textile materials comprising a pair of dyeingtanks, a reserve tank, an overflow circulating channel connecting saiddyeing tanks adjacent the upper ends thereof, a conduit connecting thebottoms of said dyeing tanks, a second conduit connecting the bottoms ofsaid dyeing and reserve tanks, a reversible high volume low pressurecirculating pump in said second conduit, a steam line extending throughthe lower ends of said dyeing tanks, and manually operable valves insaid conduits for controlling the flow of dye liquid between said tanksand said pump, each of said dyeing tanks having a baffle mounted on thebottom over said conduit inlet, a post extending vertically from saidbafile, and a plurality of stacked work holding baskets mounted aroundsaid post, each of said baskets comprising an annular wall portion and aperforated bottom, the top edge of said wall portion having a heavy headfor supporting the next vertical basket, and means for locking saidbaskets in said tanks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 677,636 7/1901Campbell 6827 723,795 3/1903 Willard 68l87 864,761 8/ 1907 Erickson220-97 1,659,967 2/1928 Wood 68l87 X 2,131,931 10/1938 Bates 220-97 X2,577,727 7/1951 Abbott 68189 FOREIGN PATENTS 464,717 8/ 1928 Germany.

14,960 1898 Great Britain. 22,869 1903 Great Britain. 23,050 1905 GreatBritain.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR DYEING TEXTILE MATERIALS COMPRISING A PAIR OF DYEINGTANKS, A RESERVE TANK, AN OVERFLOW CIRCULATING CHANNEL CONNECTING SAIDDYEING TANKS ADJACENT THE UPPER ENDS THEREOF, A CONDUIT CONNECTING THEBOTTOMS OF SAID DYEING TANKS, A SECOND CONDUIT CONNECTING THE BOTTOMS OFSAID DYEING AND RESERVE TANKS, A REVERSIBLE HIGH VOLUME LOW PRESSURECIRCULATING PUMP IN SAID SECOND CONDUIT, A STEAM LINE EXTENDING THROUGHTHE LOWER ENDS OF SAID DYEING TANKS, AND MANUALLY OPERABLE VALVES INSAID CONDUITS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF DYE LIQUID BETWEEN SAID TANKSAND SAID PUMP, EACH OF SAID DYEING TANKS